Brazil's newly launched vaccination campaign against Covid-19 has gotten off to a late and rocky start — as the country is hammered by a second wave of the disease, it is already close to running out of vaccine, syringes and other vital equipment, according to scientists who blame the government of Jair Bolsonaro.

The campaign only began on Monday in the country of 212 million, weeks after the United States and European countries launched their vaccination programmes.

The late rollout, hampered by short supplies, has sparked growing public ire, with widespread complaints about people being vaccinated out of turn. Thousands of people in several cities mounted protests this weekend demanding Bolsonaro's ouster.